Practically all vehicle operators, including automobile and truck driver, as well as other vehicle operators, and particularly those who operate such vehicles in inclement winter weather, have experienced the problem of obstruction to adequate vision when the windshield wiper blades become coated or clogged with snow and ice. It is indeed well known that when operating a vehicle during inclement winter weather, and particularly at times during snow fall or freezing rain, that the windshield wiper blades will tend to become coated with packed show or ice making it very difficult for the windshield wiper blades to adequate clear the windshield. As a consequence, vision through the windshield becomes obstructed and hinders clear vision and safe driving. In such situation, it often becomes necessary for the vehicle operator to stop his vehicle periodically for the purpose of stepping out of the vehicle to dislodge and remove snow and ice accumulations from the windshield wiper blades before proceeding. This becomes necessary not only to satisfy the driver's own feeling of adequate vision and safe driving, but may be necessary from a legal point of view as many states have written regulations or laws regarding the area of windshield that must be cleared least the driver be in violation of such law or regulation. It is further recognized that the need to stop one's vehicle and step outside for the purpose of removing snow and ice from the windshield wiper blades can itself be very dangerous, as obviously, other following drivers will most likely have similar obstructed vision and may not see such a stopped vehicle or the driver standing adjacent thereto cleaning his or her windshield wiper blades.
Applicant's above-cited co-pending patent application, Ser. No. 08/208,440, filed Mar. 9, 1994, teaches and claims apparatus adapted to be bonded onto a vehicle windshield for the purposes of removing snow and/or ice from the windshield wiper blade while the wiper blade is in motion during it normal wiping action. That invention comprises a very simple piece of apparatus, namely a simple rumble strip which is merely an elongated body, which can be secured at an edge of the outer surface of a windshield at a position over which the windshield wiper blade will pass when in the operating mode, or when the wiper switch is turned "on" and "off". The rumble strip has at least one surface sufficiently raised from the outside plane surface of the windshield as will cause the windshield wiper blade to be flexed and/or bumped as it passes thereover. The flexing and/or bumping of the windshield wiper blade will loosen, dislodge and remove at least some of the snow and ice adhering to the windshield wiper blade. Accordingly, the repeated flexing and/or bumping of the windshield wiper blade with each and every pass over the rumble strip will serve to keep the windshield wiper blade relatively clear of accumulated packed snow and ice so that the windshield wiper blade can better function to keep the windshield cleared of vision obstructing water, snow and ice.
For optimum effect, it has been found that the rumble strip should be at least as long as the windshield wiper blade, and bonded to the windshield in a parallel relationship to the wiper blade, so that the full width of the wiper blade will contact the width of the rumble strip with a full length, parallel impact force so that the side of the wiper blade is impacted against and literally bounced over the rumble strip. If the length of the rumble strip is notably less than that of the windshield wiper blade, the wiper blade may be caused bow around the rumble strip as it passes thereover, with a lesser "bounce over" effect, and accordingly, a reduced snow and ice removing capability. If the length of the rumble strip is more than the length of the windshield, to the extent that it extends beyond one or both ends of the wiper blade as the wiper blade passes thereover, then obviously optimum cleaning action will be achieved, but the rumble strip will be longer than necessary, and can therefore, be a visual obstruction to an extent more than necessary.
In preparing to market such rumble strips, it has been found that vehicles on the road today utilize windshield wiper blades having a great variation in length. Some vehicles utilized windshield wiper blades as short as 14 inches, while other utilize wiper blades as long as 24 inches. Furthermore, some vehicles utilize windshield wiper blades that are not matched in length, for example using a 24-inch wiper blade on the driver's side and a 18-inch blade on the passenger side. Still other vehicles utilize a rather long, single, centrally mounted, windshield wiper blade that sweeps the full width of the windshield. Accordingly, to successfully package pairs of rumble strips for sale to the general public as individual vehicle owners, an unreasonable number of lengths and length combinations must be packaged to satisfy most if not all possible vehicle owners.